Jacob Kellermann

About this Artist

Jacob Kellermann (born 1984) has established himself as one of the most active Swedish guitarists of his generation. Born in Stockholm, he began his guitar studies at the age of eight.

Regularly performing in major Swedish venues, he has appeared internationally as a soloist and chamber musician in venues including Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Prinzregententheater and Gasteig Munich , Seoul Art Center and Brucknerhaus Linz. He has partaken in festivals such as Båstad Kammarmusikfestival (Sweden), Festival Dag in de Branding (the Netherlands), NJORD Biennale (Denmark), El Jem Festival (Tunisia), Mikulov Guitar Festival (Czech Republic) and Gevelsberg Gitarrenfestival (Germany). His concerts have been broadcasted by Radio and TV in Sweden (P2, SVT), Germany (BR), The Netherlands (NPO) and South Korea (KBS). Future engagements duringseason 2019/20 include recording J. Rodrigos famous Concierto de Aranjuez with London Philharmonic Orchestra for BIS records, concerts tours in Japan and Rumania (Enesco Festival 2019) aswell as solo engagements with Gävle Symphony Orchestra (Sweden), Orchesta de Valencia (Spain), Querétaro Philharmonic (Mexiko) and Israel Contemporary Players.

An avid chamber musician, he regularly performs with string players and singers. Together with the Swedish violinist Daniel Migdal, he performs as “Duo KeMi”. Since their debut in 2005, they have performed and toured in all major cities and regions of Sweden, playing over 120 concerts. They have made critically acclaimed appearances and tours in Germany, France, The Netherlands, Czech Republic, China and South Korea. In march The duo was awarded first prize at the 2010 Aschaffenburg Internationalen Wettbewerb für Kammermusik mit Gitarre. 2018 their debut CD with sonatas by Franz Schubert was released on BIS records to great critical acclaim.

With an extensive repertoire that often features his own transcriptions, he constantly searches for new expressive possibilities for the guitar. Close collaborations with numerous composers including Jose M. Sanchez-Verdu, Francisco Coll, Benjamin Staern and Henrik Strindberg has resulted in numerous works written directly for him. In May 2013 he worked intensely with the Russian composer Sofia Gubaidulina which resulted in the release of the album with her complete works for guitar on BIS records 2014.

He has premiered new guitar concertos with major Scandinavian new music ensembles BIT20 Bergenand Norrbotten NEO. He is also the co-founder of The Netherlands based group New EuropeanEnsemble, performing the 20th and 21th century repertoire in conducted and unconducted chamber settings - from Schönberg, Boulez and Henze to world premieres by composer of the next generation.

Jacob Kellermann has studied in Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands and Germany. He received his "Meisterklasse Diplom" under prof. Franz Halasz at the Hochschule für Musik in Munich in 2011. He plays on an instrument by the German luthier Matthias Dammann.